Red Sox, MLB look into Sheffield confrontation with fan

IN THIS IMAGE from video, New York Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield (11) tussles with Boston Red Sox fans in the eighth inning on Thursday in Boston.

AP Photo BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball on Friday began looking into the scuffle between New York Yankees star Gary Sheffield and a fan in the right-field corner at Fenway Park.

The confrontation came in the eighth inning of Boston's 8-5 win over New York on Thursday night while Sheffield was fielding Jason Varitek's two-run triple in front of the 3-foot high barrier.

No decision on discipline was expected Friday, baseball said.

Before their night game at Baltimore, the Yankees said Sheffield would not comment until MLB and the Red Sox completed their investigations. But he later spoke, adding that team management had advised him "not to say anything else."

"Everything happened so fast," Sheffield said. "You have to look at the tape and pass your own judgment. I can't stand here and try to convince you one way or the other."

"It was clear that Lucchino wasn't treating this lightly," said Steinberg, who also attended the meeting. "He was serious and concerned."

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, through spokesman Howard Rubenstein, declined to comment except to say: "It's in the commissioner's hands."

The commissioner's office told The Associated Press that Bob Watson, baseball's head of discipline, was reviewing tapes of the play and security chief Kevin Hallinan was expected to talk to Red Sox officials.

In spring training, Hallinan toured major league camps and spoke to players about this very kind of confrontation, telling them not to go into the stands -- a clear reference to the NBA melee that involved Indiana's Ron Artest and other Pacers in their November game against Detroit.

After Thursday night's game, Sheffield said that in the heat of the moment, he thought about Artest.

"That's the first thing that came to mind," he said.

Steinberg did not release the fan's name or say whether he had season tickets. The fan was ejected but not arrested.

A source familiar with the situation who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity said the man was Christopher House.

The answering machine at a phone number listed for a Christopher House in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood said it was full and could not accept messages.

The testy rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox now gets more than a month to cool down. The teams next play on May 27 at New York; the Yankees next visit Boston on July 14, right after the All-Star break.

Steinberg said Fenway Park fans generally don't reach for balls rolling near the low fences in foul territory along the first-base line or in fair territory in right field.

"It's wrong to interfere with a ball in play, but we don't know what his intention was," Steinberg said.

As the ball rolled, the spectator reached over the wall and made a sweeping motion with his arm. Sheffield said he was hit in the mouth.

"It ain't nothing you're going to feel the next day," he said Friday. "It wasn't that hard enough punch to knock you out or anything."

Sheffield picked up the ball, pushed the fan, then threw the ball to the infield. Sheffield then confronted the fan but did not punch him. A security guard quickly jumped over the fence and got between the fan and Sheffield.

Steinberg said the team is also looking into the actions of the fan who was holding a beer that spilled during the scuffle. He said he didn't have that person's name and doesn't know if the beer was deliberately thrown at Sheffield or it spilled after he was pushed by other fans.

The team is considering increasing the number of signs that warn of fan interference and make more announcements at the park that interfering with a ball in play will result in ejection.

This was the latest scuffle in baseball between fans and players.

Last September, the Texas Rangers fought with fans in Oakland. Texas reliever Frank Francisco was arrested after throwing a chair into the stands, breaking a woman's nose.

On Sept. 28, Dodgers outfielder Milton Bradley was ejected after slamming down a plastic bottle in the front row of the right-field seats after a fan threw it onto the field. He was suspended for the rest of the regular season.

"They want to make it fan friendly. They want people close to the field and close to the game," Sheffield said. "But there is a price to pay for that. When you get that close to people and things happen."